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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

BlackBerry enters agreement for $4.7 billion sale of company to consortium led by Fairfax Financial

For the second time
in as many trading days, shares of BlackBerry were halted in advance of
some big news from the company. Today's news is no less big. BlackBerry
has just announced that it's signed a letter of intent agreement for a
sale of the company valued at $4.7 billion to a consortium led by
Fairfax Financial (the company's largest shareholder). Pending due
diligence that's expected to be completed by November 4th, the deal
would see BlackBerry go private, with shareholders each receiving $9 per
share in cash.In a statement, Fairfax Chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said, "we believe
this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for
BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees," adding, "we can
deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution
of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering
superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around
the world."

While BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has yet to offer any public
comment on the news, the chair of BlackBerry's Board of Directors,
Barbara Stymiest, drew attention to that due diligence period in her
statement, saying that "the go-shop process provides an opportunity to
determine if there are alternatives superior to the present proposal
from the Fairfax consortium." As part of the agreement, BlackBerry would
have to pay a termination fee if it accepted another offer. You can
find the official announcement of the deal after the break.